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I was just informed by someone on the "inside loop" that my co-worker and I would be spliting the on call weekends from here on out.

Needless to say, we are greatly short handed!

During the week, techs are sent down to Austin from the home office in Dallas. One or two of them work a few days here with us. Then early on Friday ... they head for home.
This makes for a very dis-jointed work week.

I am trying to be a positive person. But I know the way I am when I dont get much sleep. I'm grouchier than Dice!
And I dont want to be that way.

Why ... one night I was so grouchy... they called me oput late to this store for their FF lineup and when I got there, (this was suposed to be an emergency requiring immediate response), they were unloading all the cases!
Couldnt this have waited until morning???

There I was, with my tools and my rope in that shopping cart ... staring at all that food being unloaded from the cases. I began looking UP at the ceiling.
I found my thoughts were focusing on anything suitable for attaching my rope to.
I WANTED TO HANG SOMEONE!!!

I got over it.
It is not the real me.
I was just reacting, instead of responding. I wasnt being my normal rational self. You know ... the guy who thinks of options and solutions to every problem.

I guess I've just gota grow up and bite the bullet. Since nobody wants to come work for us, for reasons listed in other threads, this summer is going to be a bugger.

I made my concerns known to the man who informed me of this critical situation. He asked why I was bothered by it.

Well duh???

I wonder if any company facing a simular shortage of manpower has considered using some of it's resources just for overtime and weekend calls?
I mean, have guys who just do the dirty work.

I'm being told that Dallas guys are getting forty onthe weekends sometimes.
FORTY HOURS over the weekend? Are they kidding?

Heck, even the Army didnt treat their mules like that during world war one!!!

If this is the way market work is done, then say so and I'll get a grip.
But if this is not the way your company treats it's employee's .. and you have a viable sugestion or two ... then please say so.

I just raised my prices in order to automatically turn down the low end customers. I have come to the conclusion that I do not have to run every call. I am here to make money, keeping people cool is just the path that makes the money, not the sole existance of my being.

Sounds like your company is taking on more work than they can handle. I suggest a slight price increase to the customers you want to keep (with explanation), a massive price increase to the customers you cannot handle at this time, and for good measure, an employee raise.:-)

We too are totally buried in work and we just raised prices as well, it hasn't slowed business at all. New installs, even retros of dead units are being schedulaed out 3 weeks. No cooling, well, maybe today, most likely tommorrow. Need planned maintanence, don't count on it...change the filter and hose your crap down, we'll try to get there. As far as on call. We work until about 8:30 everynight anyway so after that it's cool enough that people just wait until morning to call. On the weekends, well, I don't mind working on weekends. OH, by the way I had been on call for almost a year straight, this is my first FREE weekend, I finally got the new tech trained enough.
I have explained to the boss that we need more people. I told him our customers are suffering as much as us and it is going to effect our reputation if we can't get to people. He shrugs his shoulders and counts his money, oh and he is only seen about 1 hour a week . I can't wait to buy him out and show him what the business really could be.

There are 3 ways to do anything in life; Good, Fast, Slow: You can pick any 2.

I refuse to be worked to the point where I cant enjoy my carreer. The quality of workmanship suffers, then the customer suffers, then the reputation suffers. Its a downward spiral. Been there, done that. No more! I will say a prayer for your endurance. When you feel the stress, sit back, have a marlboro and a cup of coffee and relax. Hang in there. Peace.

Now the freaks are on television, the freaks are in the movies. And its no longer the sideshow, its the whole show. The colorful circus and the clowns and the elephants, for all intents and purposes, are gone, and were dealing only with the freaks. - Jonathan Winters

Originally posted by sarge I am feeling the stress of being on call every weekend!

Sounds like your company is taking on more work than they can handle. I suggest a slight price increase to the customers you want to keep (with explanation), a massive price increase to the customers you cannot handle at this time, and for good measure, an employee raise.:-)

My employer is under contract with a market chain to service so many stores in a given area.
The price per hour is under fifty bucks. The markup on parts is limited. So ... with limited earning potential, nobody wants to come and work for him.
Had I known what the rates were or salary ... I may have looked elsewhere. But I wanted a job and I thought markets would be a good idea.
I like the markets. I like the work. I like the learning curve. I like getting something accomplished. I like being stretched. But not unreasonably.
I like forty or fifty hours. But anything past sixty is getting beyond reasonable. And seventy puts me in a nasty mood, (as mentioned earlier). But that's not the end of the world. I need to provide for my family and whatever it takes is ... whatever it takes.

My employer did not hire me to run his business nor to feed him tidbits of insight into how to do things easier or better.
He has his own ways of doing things .. and they are his ways. He is not into change. He wants it his way, and he's got it his way.

Unfortunately ... his way does not work in every scenario.
Hence we dont have fresh blood coming into the company to field the calls.

I will spare you the horror stories of the last three guys who wer let go.
Let's just say... if they had been any of your employees, you'd have stumbled all over yourself to get rid of them!

Originally posted by superheater If you guys are putting in all that time I hope your getting somthing for stand by if not you may as well go in to bussiness for your selves.

Standby, standby .... money for being on standby? Are you talkin' to ME?

Surely you MUST be jesting!!!
My employer wouldnt pay us standby even if someone threatened to no longer work onthe weekends.

I know. I just met a guy who did that very thing. He no longer does weekend calls, at all.

But to me, when there is only you and one other man in your area. And you have to work and get along together. Pulling a stunt like that is waaayyy tooo selfish and arrogant to let stand.
Maybe my co-worker isnt the best guy to be partnered with, but I wouldnt pull a stunt like that on him even if he was my enemy.

Originally posted by will 2 Been there. Never again.
Still get chills when I hear a Nextel 'bitty-beep'.

It as got to the point that every time the phone rings, I expect it to be my co-worker asking me to field another call for him.

Last Sunday night, nine pm, he calls and says he's got two racks down in this one market. Will I drive into Austin and give him a hand.
Sure. I get there and it's an air cooled condensor, RTU, with ground shorts.
Ancient pos. I mean a n c i e n t!

Sh here I am, with him, on the roof late at night ... lettin' smoke outa wiring.... go figure.
I got it fixed so three outa four ran on the motors. This enabled us to run the rack which did the subcooling for the other racks. And this brought everything up to snuff.
He was happy, the store was happy and he backed off my case the rest of the week.

Bt even my off time isnt sacred to this company.
I thought slavery was abolished a long time ago! What's this?

It was a different story the previous week when I was out late and phoned him asking for his assistance. He was at the park with his family and didnt want to come to work, not even for a single call.

Hmmmm.... sounds to me like we are two different people.
Well duh!

I used to be the type of guy who'd just work til he dropped. And then I'd get some breakfast, have a cup of java and hit the road again. I'd simply fall over inside the truck and sleep there.